Densho Digital Repository - Clara S. Hattori Interview II (Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-427-16)

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TI: And so you get to Spokane, train depot, Bill's there.

CH: And right away we went to Coeur d'Alene and got... we had to have two witnesses.

TI: Why Coeur d'Alene and not Spokane? You were in Spokane, why'd you go to Idaho to get married?

CH: Idaho you could get married in twenty-four hours, I mean, get married right then and there. Did you know that?

TI: No. And Washington state you couldn't?

CH: Oh, no, Washington you can't. You have to wait three days or something. I think you have to wait three days.

TI: So I didn't know that. So Idaho you could get married, just go in and get married.

CH: Yeah, and Coeur d'Alene was noted for, in those days. I think the laws have changed now, but in those days, it was, Coeur d'Alene was famous for getting married, I mean you could get married right there.

TI: Now were you expecting to get married the same day?

CH: Well, no, but... I don't know if we had planned that or not. But it turned out... can't live without getting married. We had to get married. [Laughs] No, I don't know.

TI: So you had, you said, two witnesses?

CH: Yeah. And then Bill happened to know people that lived in Coeur d'Alene, they're the ones that lived in Seattle, and the minute that the West Coast was getting bad, they moved to Coeur d'Alene. And one was Bill Yorozu, and I don't know who the other girl, who she is. But Bill knew her. And so he had, I don't know how they... they were there. But we went... see, we rented a car and went there, and I guess Bill must have told them that we needed witnesses. And then we went to the, to this place where you get your license. I can't remember if it's the federal building or some kind of a government building. And we got our license, and then they had to sign, and that was it, we were married. So in Idaho we were married, so that was it.

TI: And then that evening, did you go back to Spokane or did you stay in Coeur d'Alene? Like with Bill Yorozu...

CH: No, Bill Yorozu, they were there. They lived there. We went to Spokane and we went to the Japanese hotel, yeah, hotel. And they had, Bill must have made the arrangement with them, because they had a room, it was two floors up, no elevator, so it was two floors up. And the Yorozus were across the hallway from us, and he and his wife were there. But I don't know whether the other person, whether they were in... the Yorozus was not in Coeur d'Alene, it was in Spokane. They lived in that same hotel. And the Yorozus, Bill knew from Seattle. And the other person I didn't know how he knew, he must have known him in Seattle. Or it could have been Yorozu's friend, too, it could have been Yorozu's friend in Coeur d'Alene, that was it.

TI: Now after you got married, did you have any party or anything in Spokane?

CH: No. None of our family was there, and only person I knew was just Bill Yorozu and his wife. His wife's name was... I can picture her, but I can't think of her name. But there's only two people that I knew in Spokane, I didn't know anybody else.